State's Terror Untruths

This year's report on "Patterns of Global Terrorism" veers into unreliability and even falsehood. It's a dangerous document likely to harm the war on terrorism.

Each spring, the State Department issues "Patterns of Global Terrorism," its major report on the problem it defines as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience."

It's always been a highly politicized document, reflecting the Washington debate and diplomatic imperatives, but this year it has veered into unreliability and even falsehood. It's a dangerous document likely to harm the war on terrorism.

Its problems include:

* Methodology: The State Department uses methods which create the misleading impression that the Middle East is marginal to terrorism.

It does this by counting damage to property the same as damage to people: So of the 346 terrorist incidents logged in 2001, 178 (slightly over half) involved attacks on a multinational oil pipeline in Colombia, suggesting that South America is the overwhelming source of terrorism.

But as the Middle East Quarterly's Martin Kramer puts it, "Obviously, Latin America is not the world's terrorism epicenter, and it is not why you have to take off your shoes at airport departure gates."

It also logs incidents by location, not perpetrator. Thus, Sept. 11 counts as North American terrorism, not Middle Eastern. By this reckoning, a mere 29 incidents took place in the Middle East, compared to 33 in Africa, 68 in Asia, and a whopping 194 in Latin America (remember that pipeline). Of 3,547 deaths last year, a mere 60 lost their lives in the Middle East, compared to 90 in Africa, 180 in Asia, and 3,235 in North America.

* Denial: The overwhelmingly most important sources of terrorism are militant Islam and Palestinian nationalism. (It's noteworthy that in addition to the 3,235 people killed on 9/11, all but one of the other eight Americans who lost their lives in terrorist incidents in the course of 2001 - one each in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, five in Israel - were murdered by adherents of militant Islam.)

But the report's only allusions to militant Islam are to deny its importance: "The war on terrorism is not a war against Islam." "Adverse mention in this report of individual members of any political, social, ethnic, religious, or national group is not meant to imply that all members of that group are terrorists."

And it includes this quote from a Muslim figure: "Our tolerant Islamic religion highly prizes the sanctity of human life." End of discussion.

* Falsehoods: It is flatly untrue that "Pakistan sealed its border with Afghanistan to help prevent the escape of fugitives." To the contrary, that border was left basically open.

Or this howler: "In the aftermath of 11 September, the United Nations promptly intensified its focus on terrorism, taking steps to provide a mandate for strengthened international engagement in the fight against terrorism." One of those steps, in October 2001, was to elect the Syrian Arab Republic - which the State Department itself considers a terrorist-sponsoring state - to ultra-prestigious membership in the Security Council.

* Whitewashing Palestinian violence: Ever intent on enhancing Yasser Arafat's reputation, State hides his responsibility for terrorism. President Bush may have has accused Arafat of "enhancing terrorism" but State's bureaucrats suppress every piece of the voluminous evidence pointing to this connection.

State pretends the vast majority of Palestinian terrorist incidents simply did not happen.

Worse, State pretends the vast majority of Palestinian terrorist incidents simply did not happen. It defines "significant international terrorist incidents" as ones involving major property damage, abduction or kidnapping, loss of life or serious injury, or the foiled attempt at any of these, and in 2001 it found 123 incidents worldwide that meet this criteria. Of those, a mere 11 concerned violence against Israelis.

But when the Independent Media Review and Analysis applied State's criteria to anti-Israel violence, its scrupulous research found 97 attacks on Israel that fit this definition.

The U.S. government asserts that Palestinian atrocities against Israel made up just 9 percent of the world's serious terrorist incidents in 2001, but in fact they constituted 46 percent of them.

In all, this document reflects a mentality in Washington of reluctance to confront unpleasant realities. The danger is clear: He who fools himself about his enemy in time of war is likely to lose that war.

Visitor Comments: 9

(9)
Gerald Lynch,
June 25, 2014 3:59 AM

Open yr eyes Ben

don't know where you live Ben, but not the South of Israel to be sure. The overt anti-semitism in all of Europe and in a vast area of the rest of the world is all without base or cause, but hypocritically supposedly supportive of the manifestly terrorist saturated populations of those that mistakenly call themselves Palestinian. Until the kill-crazy blood soaked mentality of those militant Islamist is changed and while their acts of murderous insanity are sanitized by almost all of the world outside Israel nothing will change, till they themselves become the victims of the virulence the excuse today.

(8)
Anonymous,
August 28, 2002 12:00 AM

911 Human error

I spoke to a Combat Expert, and former Army Pilot and Pilot trainer. I was informed that the results of the 9-11-01 attacks were in fact the result of Pilot error.

I was told the Pilot/Copilot should have never opened the cockpit door. It was also explained to me how the passager area of the plane could have been depressurized. Lowering the pressure of the cabin while keeping the pressure up in the Cockpit would have made the door almost impossibile to breach. It would have made the task of breaking down the door almost impossibile due to the physial pounds of pressure per square inch, and the difficulity of trying to do this while fighting for oxygen. The hijackers would have at best would have had to make short attempts after breathing from the oxygen masks near the seats which are not located near the door.

(7)
Anonymous,
June 5, 2002 12:00 AM

Totally agree with the conclusion

If you take a stand on an issue you can not wobble on the issue. It has to be direct, express and unwavering. Otherwise the message you send will be one of acquiescence.

(6)
James Gonzalez,
June 4, 2002 12:00 AM

Truths

Now it's the time for the people of the whole world get a real information about who is who in the terror factory land, now it's the time for Israel to show to the media that the terror it's begin with the "palestinians" the whole world needs to know this truth.

(5)
Anonymous,
June 4, 2002 12:00 AM

Terrorism

Has anyone sent or provided this information to the United States? Also, don't forgot the amtrax victims that showed up after the Sept. 11 incident or the numberous reports that the United States will be hit again.

(4)
Ben Weitzmen,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

Stop saying Bad things

I'm jewish and i don't like this article attackiNG Islam. Stop making it look like Islam is the evil thing. There is terror in every religion. Lets not be so one sided.

(3)
Nelson Kieff,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

State Department is Ken Boulding's denial of reality.

The assessment is too gracious in criticizing the objective truth and not the State Department's underlying "mens
rea." The effort in the Report is too protect their favorites.

(2)
Esther G. Senft,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

Continue exposing the truth!

Great job, Mr. Pipes - and three cheers, Aish, for posting this article on this site! It is a wonderful thing when people and organizations are willing to tell the truth on things!

(1)
Anonymous,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

Appalled at the kind of reporting by State.

You can do anything with numbers and the State Department seems to have cornered the market on mis-information.

I just got married and have an important question: Can we eat rice on Passover? My wife grew up eating it, and I did not. Is this just a matter of family tradition?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chametz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chametz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. Chametz is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.

Hence the category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?

Products of kitniyot often appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Also, chametz grains may become inadvertently mixed together with kitniyot. Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot were prohibited.

In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chametz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chametz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chametz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.

What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot-based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.

Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken-wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "cholent" stew!) In the United States and elsewhere, mainstream kosher supervision agencies certify it "Kosher for Passover" -- look for the label.

Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where one family could be eating rice on Passover - when their neighbors will not. So am I going to guess here that you are Ashkenazi and your wife is Sefardi. Am I right?

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194-1270), known as Nachmanides, and by the acronym of his name, Ramban. Born in Spain, he was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, Talmud, and philosophy. In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation (religious debate) between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the debate, which earned the king's respect and a prize of 300 gold coins. But this incensed the Church: Nachmanides was charged with blasphemy and he was forced to flee Spain. So at age 72, Nachmanides moved to Jerusalem. He was struck by the desolation in the Holy City -- there were so few Jews that he could not even find a minyan to pray. Nachmanides immediately set about rebuilding the Jewish community. The Ramban Synagogue stands today in Jerusalem's Old City, a living testimony to his efforts.

It's easy to be intimidated by mean people. See through their mask. Underneath is an insecure and unhappy person. They are alienated from others because they are alienated from themselves.

Have compassion for them. Not pity, not condemning, not fear, but compassion. Feel for their suffering. Identify with their core humanity. You might be able to influence them for the good. You might not. Either way your compassion frees you from their destructiveness. And if you would like to help them change, compassion gives you a chance to succeed.

It is the nature of a person to be influenced by his fellows and comrades (Rambam, Hil. De'os 6:1).

We can never escape the influence of our environment. Our life-style impacts upon us and, as if by osmosis, penetrates our skin and becomes part of us.

Our environment today is thoroughly computerized. Computer intelligence is no longer a science-fiction fantasy, but an everyday occurrence. Some computers can even carry out complete interviews. The computer asks questions, receives answers, interprets these answers, and uses its newly acquired information to ask new questions.

Still, while computers may be able to think, they cannot feel. The uniqueness of human beings is therefore no longer in their intellect, but in their emotions.

We must be extremely careful not to allow ourselves to become human computers that are devoid of feelings. Our culture is in danger of losing this essential aspect of humanity, remaining only with intellect. Because we communicate so much with unfeeling computers, we are in danger of becoming disconnected from our own feelings and oblivious to the feelings of others.

As we check in at our jobs, and the computer on our desk greets us with, "Good morning, Mr. Smith. Today is Wednesday, and here is the agenda for today," let us remember that this machine may indeed be brilliant, but it cannot laugh or cry. It cannot be happy if we succeed, or sad if we fail.

Today I shall...

try to remain a human being in every way - by keeping in touch with my own feelings and being sensitive to the feelings of others.

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